The second photograph I received from Monica Leat also showed Bessie NATHAN in costume as the character Topsy from the play Uncle Tom’s Cabin based on the novel by  Harriet Beecher Stowe.

 I showed these pictures to Cousin Pat who pointed at the Topsy picture and said “Mam had that picture, she carried it in her bag for years. I’ve still got it.” She then opened her handbag and produced an envelope, shook the contents of the envelope onto the table and sat back. I stared at the four pieces of card that lay there and then began turning them until they fitted together.

Now I could see that two pieces were just a backing that had once been stuck onto the photograph and the other two were pure family history gold!

The picture was indeed exactly the same as the Topsy picture sent to Mr and Mrs Davies but on the back of this one there was writing.

“Playing Topsy for 5 years without a break. This was taken by a little boy with a 2/6 camera, over my outdoor clothes I was out shopping.”

Somehow I don’t think she would have gone shopping with her stage makeup still on, although that possibility cannot be ruled out. We do know, from  the newspaper reviews, that she eventually played Topsy for seven years. The Company was the Charles Harmon Anglo American Theatre Company and from what I can see in the advertisements in The Era  There were at least three touring companies doing the same production.